I was reading an essay by Neva Coyle called "Keeping Promises"...she said this:

DID anyone ever tell you that they would do something for you that needed to be done, and then they didn't do it? Did anyone ever promise you something and then break that promise? Were you ever lied to? Did you ever count on someone for support, and then just when you needed it you found that your friend was not in a position to give that support? Did you ever read a brochure about a vacation spot, and when you got there found that the modern cabin in the photograph was the only one at the place and it was occupied? If any of these situations ring a bell with you, then you know what it is like to be disillusioned and deceived.

Deception - what a disabing, evil, element. Falsehood, misrepresentation, fabrication, dishonesty, fraud - al synonymous with deception. I have used these words to illustrate what God is not. We tend to be skeptical because of past experiences. We want everything proven to us before we believe. Why? Because we may have believed something once too often, and been deceived one time too many. We are more acquainted with lies than the truth.

God knows that we are more apt to be skeptical than believing. Yet we remain gullible and vulnerable. He knows that even with the intense conditioning most of us have had, we want to believe. We need to believe. We are immensely relieved when we find an honest friend whom we can trust. God can be to us that friend. Listen to his words to us from Hebrews 6:18: "It is impossible for God to lie." Think about it - impossible. When God makes a promise, you can count on him to keep it!
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When I read the above I couldn't help comparing this to the way people play poker. In poker some people are called "believers"...I once read a column on Cardplayer by a very astute poker player that said her experiences had made her a "Believer".

If you're a "Believer" on the table it means you are apt to credit someone with a hand whereas if you aren't a believer you are more apt to call. But everyone knows...calling is oftentimes more dangerous in poker than folding...

So to me believing on the table is like believing in God in life...it's simply safer...unbelieving is inherently less safe than believing.

What if the true god punishes believers?

If you can't take God at his word then who's word can you take?

Its more correct to say God corrects believers.

The bible says God corrects all his sons. It's reasonable to correct your son from making a mistake.

You have it backwards. You've made the call, 'cause you have two pretty cards. I went with my read and folded.

This is very, very wrong in a game of pattern recognition and psychology.

But some people can't read.

That's why they rely on math and probability for their calls to be accurate.

Actually people that can really read can read between the lines, too....In the spiritual world we can do that when the Spirit enables us to.

I have not heard directly from GOD , so I got no idea what he wants who he is and what is going on here.... I'm willing to take my friends word over any word of who knows how many writers who make supernatural claims in their book..

Look at VP$IP mis-reading Pletho in his "Should I Stay or Go" thread.

You have to be able interpret things correctly to make a good read. You can't think straight about God's Word if you can't interpret (divide the word) correctly.

I prayed to God that my Aces would hold up vs. QQ AIPF.

Board came 9TAKJ.

You rely on math and probability *AFTER* you already have some reads and put your opponent on a range. If you always have default ranges that you put opponents on because you can't read, it's better to not play poker at all.

But there's still people that read a lot better than other people, amirite?

Not true. The poker graveyard is full of people who folded too much. The best players fold or call based on a logical, rational assessment of all available information at hand.

Again, not true.

Terry Jones and those who murdered 22 people (last count I heard) in retaliation, believed in god (wasn't safe for those 22 people).

The hijackers on 9/11 also believed in god (wasn't safe for them or the thousands they killed).

Eric Rudolph who blew up abortion clinics also believed in god (wasn't safe for the people he killed).

Believing in god is not always safe. OTOH - The only time not believing in god can hurt you or someone else, is when someone who DOES believe in god decides to kill you because of it.

It's your own fault. You didn't have enough faith, imo.

Also M. Scott Peck who performed 2 exorcisms seems to suggest otherwise.

You seem to think that a logical assessment is based only on pot odds. It is also based on past history, game flow, previous hands, meta-game, etc. This is all encompassed under a "poker sense" or "intuition". No offense, but I understand if you don't understand. Your mind is geared towards thinking that sense and intuition must be completely separate from facts or past experience. It's why you can have such strong convictions about invisible beings.

No, but you said: ...it's simply safer...unbelieving is inherently less safe than believing.

And I pointed out instances where believing was NOT safer and where unbelieving was inherently more safe. An atheist simply could never commit any of those heinous acts based on a lack of belief in god.

"With or without god, good people can do good. For good people to do evil, that takes religion."